1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus having an editing function, an information processing method therefor, and a storage medium. The present invention is preferable, for example, for an information processing apparatus and an information processing method for creating very delicate block copy, and a storage medium therefor.
2. Related Background Art
An example information processing apparatus having an editing function is an interactive drawing system, such as a CAD or a DTP (Desk Top Publishing) system, for preparing print data, in particular, printing data for a block copy for graphic patterns, characters and illustrations that are displayed on the main bodies of products or on their external packages, or in manuals. The following methods are conventionally employed by the above system to prepare such print data.
(1) A method whereby interactive graphic patterns and characters are edited and are laid out, while presented on a display device are rough images that differ from images that are printed, and whereby printing data are separately prepared, by adding attributes required for printing, and are printed using a printer.
(2) A method whereby interactive graphic patterns and characters are edited and are laid out, while presented on a display device are rough images that differ from images that are printed, and whereby when a printer is used to reproduce the images presented on the display device, the shapes of the reproduced images are substantially the same as those on the display.
Method (2) is a technique called WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), whereby an image presented on a display device has the same display form as has an image reproduced by a printer.
In addition, the following method is employed to prepare printing data, without using the interactive drawing system.
(3) A method whereby a markup language, such as TEX, is employed to process source text in which are described attributes required for printing, and layout information as well as graphic data and character data, and whereby, when the processing of the source text is performed by way of batch processing, printing data are obtained that are output to a printer and are used to produce printed matter.
However, the above-described examples of prior art methods have the following problems, which are assigned numbers that correspond to those provided for the individual examples described above.
(1) Since an image printed by a printer differs considerably from that which is presented on a display device, a user must repeat the printing process many times and repetitiously perform corrections until a desired image is obtained, and further, a satisfactory user interface is not available.
Also, since display data must be prepared in addition to print data, the efficiency of the data preparation process is not fully satisfactory.
(2) When the above-described WYSIWYG function is employed to interactively lay out the graphic patterns and characters, a user must perform a layout operation in accordance with an image displayed on the display device.
However, the accuracy of the operation depends on the resolution of the display device. Therefore, when an image is produced by a printer that has a resolution that is considerably higher than that of the display device, errors occur because of the difference in the resolutions, and what is provided on the display device differs from the results that are provided by the printer.
Assume, for example, that a detailed layout, such as, “end points of a circumscribed rectangle for the visible portion of a character or a figure are aligned along the conventional points,” is required to prepare the printing data for a block copy. Even when the layout of an image on the display device seems correct to a user, small errors occur in the image that is actually printed by a printer having 30 to 50 times the resolution of the display device, and this renders correct position alignment very difficult.
(3) When a markup language, such as a Tex, is employed, unlike method (2) errors, error due to a difference in resolution do not occur so long as the correct layout is instructed. However, since the processing is not performed interactively, a user cannot perform a layout operation while observing the results of the layout, so that the user interface is even less satisfactory than is the one in method (1). Since the layout must always be precisely described, even when a detailed layout is not required, to prepare the printing data extra labor must be expended and the number of unnecessary operations that are performed is increased, and the efficiency of the work performed by a user is deteriorated.
When a special image processing program is employed to fetch a screen image, or to convert a photo image into digital information using a scanner and to hold it as raster information, the raster image can be edited as dots. However, the special image processing program edits an image as a rasterized image, i.e., as an image made up of dots. Thus, if the image is modified by enlarging or reducing it, the resultant image becomes jagged and representation accuracy cannot be maintained.
In addition, assume that the positioning of a character string having the same color as that of the background is to be performed while a printed image is displayed on the display device. Especially when monochrome block copy is being prepared, situations frequently arise where reverse video characters, that is, characters produced by employing the reverse video mode only for the characters themselves, are superimposed on a figure (pattern) filled with a solid color (paint out).
According to one method, a solid color figure is drawn first and then characters are drawn that have the same color as that which is designated for the background.
In this case, if a string comprising reverse video characters is placed directly on the background, or if the solid color figure that constitutes the background for the reverse video character string, or for a reverse video graphic figure, is moved or deleted during interactive editing processing, the reverse video character string, or figure, cannot be distinguished from the background, thus rendering the editing job very difficult.
Assume that, as is shown in FIG. 80, reverse video characters (characters having the same color as the background), such as ABC, are superimposed on a solid color figure. When the color filled figure is moved to the right and upward during interactive processing, the characters ABC become invisible.
A specific color can be temporarily set for a character string, or for a graphic figure, so that it can be used to support the interactive editing process when the string is in a temporarily specific state, such as when it is being selected. In this case, when the solid color background figure and the reverse video character string are set to the temporarily specific state at the same time, they cannot be distinguished, one from the other, and again the editing job is very difficult.
When, as is shown in FIG. 81, a solid color figure and reverse video characters are selected, and when both of them are shifted to the same temporarily specific state, the reverse video characters become invisible.
Conventionally, to position a character string so that a specific character is displayed at a designated location, an information processing apparatus of this type generally employs a method according to which a tab position is regarded as a designated location for the left end of the body of the specific character at the designated position.
However, the following conventional problem has arisen.
If, for example, the specific character is a period and the periods for numerical data written on a plurality of lines are aligned with designated positions, a thick type face (Bold) or a large character size may be employed, or an oblique angle may be set in order to exaggerate specific numerical data. In this case, in the above prior art, the left end of the body of the period, i.e., the left end of a box wherein an empty portion is the equivalent of a specific ratio for the relationship of a circumscribed rectangle to the contour of a character, is situated at the designated position. Therefore, when character strings having different attributes are present, for each character string the size of the empty portion in the box changes, the shape of the character contour varies, depending on the oblique angle, or the periods are so aligned that they disappear.
Furthermore, since the location of a specific character corresponds to a tab position, precise positioning is difficult to achieve.